This week Giselle mentioned that she wanted to talk about what we like to see in blogs, what makes us become a regular visitor/commenter so we decided to run with that. Amy and I have done a similar topic back when we were with the Book Buzzers but it's been a while and we both definitely have some new things to add to our lists. Now, remember that everything I am about to mention is entirely personal preference and if your blog happens to have something I say I don't like or not have something I like it in no way means your blog is bad. This is just my opinion and everyone looks for different things in the blogs that they frequent.
Look
As far as the actual look of a blog I am definitely a fan of lighter coloured, simple blogs. I find neutral colors (beiges, whites, light hues, etc.) to be much more welcoming and easy on the eyes. I also am not big on clutter. I don't need to know whose team you are on for every novel you have ever read and I don't need to know what tours you were on three months ago. There have been so many instances where I have gone to a blog and see a tour banner that is way past and I wish I had the power to go on and take it off for the blogger.
In the vein of bogged down blogs that lead me to be confused as to what is going on with it I have to say that I am not at all a fan of Google+. When I am going to comment back to someone who has been so kind to leave me a comment and I see that they are set up with Google+ I always let out a very annoyed groan. You can't tell on that thing what was shared by that person from someone else's blog and what posts are actually from their blog. If I have to sit there a sift through posts to find the persons actual blog they tend to lose me as a commenter because it's uber annoying.
Content
As far as actual content on a blog, the one thing that I like to see most of is of course reviews. If I go to a blog and see meme post after meme post I'm not a fan. That isn't to say that I am not a fan of memes, because I am. I love seeing people's Top 10 Tuesdays and Teaser Tuesdays but that can't be ALL that is sustaining your blog. I also look for reviews on both ends of the spectrum. Like, if I see a blog with all 5 star reviews that blogs opinion doesn't hold much water with me so I am not going to frequent it to see what they think of stuff. At the same time, I'm not a fan of a blog that hates everything either because well, that's just no fun at all.
Finally, I am a big fan of social bloggers. When I see bloggers that are chatty on Twitter and very social on GR I am fast to become a follower because I love conversing with bookish people.
This is some of the stuff that I look for when I stop by a blog to decide if I want to add it to my favourites or not, what do you look for?
Also, don't forget that we are always looking for topic suggestions for future posts.
Yes to all of this, especially the dislike of clutter and Google + because it is the actual worst.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely love the topic for this week's 'Book Girls Don't Cry'! It really prompted me to think about what I look for in a blog and what I tend to be drawn to.
ReplyDeleteAs silly as it may sound, a blog's overall appearance certainly factors into whether or not I will be a long-time reader. Like you, I tend to prefer lighter, more cheerful colours. Readability is extremely important - White font on a black background, for example, is an immediate turn-off. I won't risk eye-strain for anyone :P I also prefer a simple, easy-to-navigate design. I should be able to find everything I need without consulting a map and I despise clutter. I don't want to see a million banners or images in the sidebar. I like a clean, simplistic design with a little personal flair and something that gives me an indication of the blogger's personal style. A blog's layout should be indicative both of the blogger as well as the sort of content it will include.
That said, nothing is more important to me than content. I would rather regularly read a plain, simple blog with a default layout that has excellent, well-thought-out content over an over-stylized blog that is filled with little apart from memes and blog tours every day of the week. Reviews are the sort of content I enjoy reading the most, although it can be quite a bit of fun to peruse everyone's Top Ten Tuesday posts every week as well! Original content is a big plus (Something I think Jamie at The Perpetual Page-Turner really excels at) and I always love reading discussion posts.
Your comment about the importance of social media really drives home the fact that I need to make a concerted effort to be more outgoing on Twitter, Goodreads, etc. I've always been rather introverted and shy so putting myself out there is a bit of a challenge for me. It can be a little intimidating to strike up a conversation with someone out of the blue, particularly when you're new to the blogosphere and everyone already seems to know one another, but I do think a lot of people prize that sort of interaction highly when it comes to the blogs and bloggers they enjoy the most! I'll definitely be keeping that in mind in the future :)
As far as the look goes, I don't mind dark colors either, but the text needs to be readable. I've come across so many blogs with a black background and a white font. It makes me sad because these blogs seem to have good content, but I'm not going to tire my eyes out.
ReplyDeleteI fail when it comes to blog tour banners. Up until a few weeks ago, I still had some from like the past 2 months or so. I decided to get ride of that part of my side bar because I suck at actually updating it.
Blogs with CAPTCHAS are another pain! It makes commenting such a chore. Sometimes, I'll write a lengthy comment only to find out that the blog has CAPTCHA and I'll be like "Eff this shit!". If you're worried about spammers just go for approved comments or some other commenting platform.
When it comes to content, yes, I'm definitely like you. I'm not a fan of blogs with 6 memes and 1 review. I honestly don't see the point of blogging if you do that.
As far as blogs with only 5 star reviews go, that's a turn off too, but there are bloggers who only post positive reviews on their blogs and leave their negative ones for GR.
Great post, Jenni!
I guess the look is the most important to me- shows how much dedication the blogger put into blogging. As for light themed blogs, I do love them but dark ones can also work really well. I'm not sure if you'd call mine extremely readable- is mine? Now I'm getting worried...
ReplyDeleteAnyhoo, captcha is another big turn off for me. I feel really dumb especially when I cant get the numbers and letters right after millions of tries. Ugh. As for random crap on the sides like Teams and past tours, I am no fan either. As well as favourite books, such a waste of space and not awfully important. Not to mention it takes forever to load.
Content is another major thing I look out for in blogs. I certainly don't want to be commenting back on a blog that I'm not interested in that has poor content like 5 star reviews every time. Moreover, memes everyday sicken me. I have 2 (going to be 3) memes and 3 reviews a week and 4 if you include the one that goes on Finding Bliss in Books.
Brilliant post, Jenni! <33
I'm not a fan of Google+ either, I find it frustrating to follow a link through to that and I do find it off-putting. I'm not so bothered about the colour/layout as I tend to read through Feedly, but it can be annoying to click through to comment on a blog and find that it's cluttered or difficult to read.
ReplyDeleteI am wary of blogs that post all positive reviews, that tends to make me question the recommendations a little bit.
Great post!
Yes - the Google+ thing. Not a good way to help people find your blog posts. The all 5-star reviews is probably the top thing that keeps me from following a blog (other than only having meme posts). There are some blogs out there that have really hard to read layouts, but I follow them anyway because the bloggers are honest. That's really the most important thing.
ReplyDeleteThis has been my favorite post so far! Love your honesty. :)
ReplyDeleteGlad to see it is not just me who is driven nuts by the Google+ thing! I hate when I can't easily find a link to someone's blog. :(
ReplyDeleteI wish I could be more chatty! I was a few months ago, but I'm betting it'll decline for quite some time now. And I love a blog that has a unique look -- one that doesn't just use the template provided. I like custom things!
ReplyDeleteAgreed Jenni! I'm not a big fan of clutter either, and like with any website I visit, blog or not, I want it to be easy to read and navigate. If I have to dig to just get to the post, I'm likely not going keep coming back. I of course love visiting blogs that are social as well, particularly ones that respond to a comment I've left on their blog or come to mine and comment, it makes me feel more like we're having a discussion rather than just simply stating opinions. And yes to varied reviews! I like knowing what works for someone as much as knowing what doesn't, it keeps things interesting:)
ReplyDeleteUrgh, I hate google +. It is so confusing! I had it for a while and had to delete it because it was stupid.
ReplyDeleteI agree about the cluttered blog, especially if they take forever to load properly.
Ugh the Google + thing drives me nuts!! I have noticed I have accidentally done that before if I am signed in with my secondary account. For some reason that one doesn't go to my blog, but to Google +. The blog tour thing doesn't bother me too much if they are recent, but when it was like a month ago, it's like, "Dude, you should update that!" I tend to be slow with things like that, but not usually beyond a week or two. Great post babe!!
ReplyDeleteYou basically said everything I wanted to say lol. As I scrolled down to comment, I saw Nick's comment on captcha and omg, it's soooo annoying. Some people don't even know they have it though, so if you're polite I don't think it's bad to point it out. I usually stay away from these blogs unless they comment on mine and I want to return the favor. I hate Google+ as well, it's ugh.. yeah. Can't stand it.
ReplyDeleteI agree with a lot of the things that you mentioned Jenni, I normally have to squeeze in commenting around work, so people with Google+ accounts bug me too, especially when it takes me forever to find their blog. Also blog which take ages to load as they have about a thousand things in their side bar! This is another great discussion post Jenni, I love starting my week off with such a great post! :)
ReplyDeleteAs usual, I may as well have written this myself. I dislike clutter intensely, and I dislike memes in general. I do WoW only occasionally, and perhaps one Sunday Post a month and that's about it. I don't like seeing 10 meme posts for one review.
ReplyDeleteI myself am a total Twitter failure so it's not something I notice, but I DO notice bloggers who visit others and leave kind, thoughtful comments and open discussions. It's why we're here, right? Anything else just doesn't make sense.
Thanks for sharing, Jenni! I really enjoyed the post. And God, it's good to be back! :)
Yes to ALL of this! I love lighter colored blogs as well (I kind of chuckled when I read that though, considering your blog has a darker background, haha). It's just really appealing to the eyes. However, a dark blog design isn't going to deter me from following if the actual content is good. That's the main factor I go by. If on the front page, I don't see at least one or two reviews, then I check their post history. If it's filled with memes, then I'll pass up on it. Twitter isn't normally the biggest factor for me, although it's always great to see if they're super active on there, like me. However, I normally don't check out people's GR, but that's just me. I make it so all the comments I make on people's profiles aren't visible, because then my GR feed would be so spammed. ;) So I find that's not the best indicator for me.
ReplyDeleteLovely post, Jenni! <3
Oh man, I'm not a fan of blogs with a million and one widgets. They take forever to load. Some sidebars are just overly cluttered with them that it's overkill.
ReplyDeleteI've unfollowed many blogs where the bloggers give EVERY BOOK five stars. It just doesn't seem rational that you read amazing books, all the time. Some have to be shit, be honest. lol
ReplyDeleteThe blogs that are super cluttered really get me too... or ones that are crazy bright and give me a migraine. No thanks. :)
I usually prefer blogs that are non-cluttered. I like reading book excerpts, so I'm always looking for blogs that feature them. Personally, I don't mind seeing bloggers rating books at the higher end if the reviews also share things that support the high-ratings. I like meme features but I have to agree, if there are tons of memes but very few reviews, I may not feel like wanting to revisit the blog. This a great topic for discussion. Thanks, Jenni!
ReplyDeleteLayout is definitely my first priority, actually, even before content. If I can't read what the reviews or posts say, I might not return to see whether memes make up a majority of the posts. I'm with you on certain memes - I love Top 10 Tuesday and sometimes Waiting on Wednesday, since there are a lot of titles I haven't heard of yet - but making sure they're not the only thing there. I'm not sure I understand what you mean about the Google+ issue, but that's probably also because I avoid anything to do with Google+.
ReplyDelete"Now, remember that everything I am about to mention is entirely personal preference and if your blog happens to have something I say I don't like or not have something I like it in no way means your blog is bad. This is just my opinion and everyone looks for different things in the blogs that they frequent."
That's a very thoughtful addendum. :)
Do any of these ever lead you to unfollowing the blog, or is this just the precursor to following it?
Google+ is one thing that I just don't get. I like to see what everyone puts on their blogs, the colors, and all. My big issue is the captcha. I do most commenting from my phone and can't see them at all. Great topic!
ReplyDeleteGoogle plus annoys the heck out of me, too, Jenni! It's so confusing sometimes and I've visited blogs that only accept comments if you're signed on with them. I refuse to sign up with them so I can't comment back in those. I also do not care for cluttered blogs. They make my head hurt. I don't like it if a blog features endless guest posts along with reviews. Once in a while is fine but every post is too much, IMO. Too much info to sort through. Although, I'd rather that than just have endless blog blasts with no review at all. It seems like a waste of my time to check on blogs that only feature those with a review few and far between.
ReplyDeleteI also like variety of opinions. All 5 star or all negative reviews bother me. Wonderful points you mentioned here! Clearly they resonated with me because I've sort of wrote a novella here, lol! :)
I love this post! I'm not a fan of overly bright colors or clutter either, but if the blogger is really good, I'll stick around in spite of it. What I can't stand is meme after meme. A few posts a week are fine, but if there are no reviews and only memes all week long, I lose interest. I don't pay close attention to twitter, but I am much more likely to follow and read new-to-me bloggers who are active in the comments section of other blogs. I've come to so many amazing new blogs just from clicking on a comment they wrote somewhere. Wonderful post!
ReplyDeleteI totally agree! I have to work on the sociable end though! :)
ReplyDelete